Hollyweed – Music and Marijuana

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

With amusing and interesting clips from “Shaking the Cage” – the making of “Easy Rider” (1969), “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975), “Hair” (1979) and “The Wall” (1982) and some thoughts on the subject of pot and music from some of the characters who hang around Dankoover’s 300 block.

By no means do I consider Pink Floyd to be “drug music”. Any music is capable practically of enhancing the effects of various states of mind. But there is a link to Pink Floyd and drugs going back to their origin, with the meteoric rise and fall of Syd Barrett, who’s drug of choice happened to be LSD.

This is a work in progress, and I am attempting to make it as accurate as possible. Roger Waters and Nick Mason were said to be the “boozers” in the band, while David Gilmour and Rick Wright were the stoners. In no way do I endorse drugs or suggest they are good things or bad. They simply are.

I also wish to stress that the spirit of this page is simply in fun. It is not meant to be accusitory, finger-pointing, or inflammatory. In pictures and in words then, let’s begin.

——————————————————————————–

Here’s an interesting picture of Dave standing in front of what appears to be a VW bus. The interesting thing is the unmistakeable T-shirt slogan “Home Grown” with the huge joint. In my small opinion, David was/is an unmistakable stoner. In the video Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii Dave addresses this issue by stating, “We’re not a drug band. You can trust us.” all the while giving a devious grin and with the trancelike stare and red eyes that are dead giveaways in my opinion.

——————————————————————————–

From Rick Wright’s EMI Records site, a section of an interview with Rick:

What are your views on acid now?

Rick: Syd was very influenced by a lot of people around him, who encouraged him to take trips. There are a load of acid casualties out there. He wasn’t alone. Back then, we had people like Timothy Leary openly advocating it: trip our and take it every day. Wrong ? Yes. Misguided ? Yes. It was wrong for me. I took two trips in my life. The first was quite enjoyable and that was before I was in the band. Then I took one more and I didn’t enjoy it at all, so I never took it again. It certainly destroyed Syd and I think it has destroyed a lot of other people.

But Floyd’s music has often been described as “drug-inspired”. Do you think that suggestion is wrong?

Rick: If you mean Pink Floyd took drugs – you’re wrong. There is no way that I could play music and take any kind of drug at the same time.

Beaker here. The way I interpret that corresponds to my own view on drugs. Such “hard drugs” as heroin, cocaine, LSD and PCP are dangerous and destructive. However, not a single death has ever been directly attributed to marijuana. In The Netherlands in fact, the sale of small amounts of marijuana and “magic mushrooms” is openly tolerated as the Dutch Ministry of Health has not found these substances to be destructive. In America, millions of people die each year from alcohol and tobacco. In fact, alcohol is hardly regulated. There are more warnings on a can of diet soda then there are on a bottle of whiskey. It seems others have chosen what drugs are to be available. America’s “War on Drugs” is a thinly disguised excuse for another attack on the poor of this country. The rich can simply have their doctor write them a prescription for practically whatever they want. Think about this, because it is YOUR money being spent here.

——————————————————————————–

Upon first glance, a simple promotional picture from the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, right? Well, look a little more closely at the plane. Above David on the fuselage is the designation “420”. Four-twenty is the underground designation for marijuana smokers. Take a look at this page set up by High Times magazine, about 420 Four-twenty is International Stoner Time. April 20th is considered a holiday. Coincidence? Well, draw your own conclusions.

——————————————————————————–

From A Pink Think with the Floyd, student paper interview, 1970

Interviewer: Do you use dope when you’re playing?

PF: Sometimes . . . usually, but not much.

C: Did any of your music evolve from the use of drugs?

PF: No. There is more alcohol consumed than dope before we go on stage. You see, because, when you’re high you can sit on your own, and play for hours and hours and hours, and if you put it on tape–if you come back to it when you are straight and it’s a load of shit. I think what really we do, is that we all like to get that little bit of relaxation from smoking a small amount. For myself, I like a small smoke before I play, it relaxes me. (Gilmore [sic])

——————————————————————————–

Again, draw your own conclusions here. This is a picture of the band relaxing at The Dome, Brighton, England 1972. Cigarette in Dave’s hand or something else? hmmm…

——————————————————————————–

From Total Silence or War, German magazine Der Speigel interview with David Gilmour, June 5th, 1995.

Interviewer: Have you yourself used LSD?

G: A few times, but LSD was not really our thing; eventually the man I stepped in for, Syd Barrett, sustained real damage from LSD and similar drugs. We couldn’t make use of him any more. I haven’t seen him again for 20 years. He lives in a house in Cambridge, goes shopping, and washes his clothes in a laundromat. That’s about all he is still able to do.

——————————————————————————–

Here’s a very jovial picture of Roger. Kind of rare, as Roger is usually more dour. Could it be that he’s happy with his joint in his hand? It appears that what he is smoking is not open-ended, suggesting something hand-rolled. True, tobacco and many other herbs can be hand-rolled. Once again, it’s anybody’s guess.

——————————————————————————–From an interview with Nick Mason in 1973 Q- Drugs were a part of the psychedelic movement. What role did they play on the Pink Floyd experience?

NM- Almost none. As far as I remember, and at least referring to us, Rick, Roger and me, we didn’t take them then. On the other hand, I can’t say we weren’t drinking much. Latter, things changed, and all of us, together or separately, did the drug experiment.

The film stands out in my mind as one of the classics in the teenage scene, especially teenagers who partake in the use of narcotics (marijuana, and LSD, mostly). Simply due to the psychedelic nature of both the music and the photography.

http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=994&reviewer=2

On 29 January 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire on children arriving at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego from her house across the street, killing two men and wounding eight students and a police officer. Principal Burton Wragg was attempting to rescue children in the line of fire when he was shot and killed, and custodian Mike Suchar was slain attempting to aid Wragg.

Spencer used a rifle her father had given her as a gift. As to what impelled her into this form of murderous madness, she told a reporter,”I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”

The “Mondays” comment was not the only eyebrow-raising declaration to issue from Spencer that day. According to a report written by the police negotiators who spoke with her during the six-hour standoff, she made such comments to them as ”There was no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun”; ”It was just like shooting ducks in a pond”; and ”[the children ]looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings.”

That Spencer failed to kill any of the children she shot at was attributable to luck rather than any reluctance on her part to take their lives. The bullet that struck 9-year-old Charles “Cam” Miller missed his heart by about an inch.

Spencer pled guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. She has been up for parole three times and has been turned down each time, the last in 2001. At her first parole hearing she expressed doubt that any of the victims were hit by bullets from her rifle and contended they might have been shot by police. She also claimed to have been under the influence of alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs at the time of the shootings and asserted prosecutors and her attorney had conspired to fabricate test evidence showing she had no drugs in her system. By her third parole hearing she was admitting guilt and expressing remorse but was still contending she had been drunk and high on marijuana laced with PCP the day of her deadly rampage. She also claimed something new, that she had been beaten and sexually abused by her father, an avowal conspicuously absent from previous records.

Of the pre-Littleton school shootings, the one that that sticks in people’s minds best is recalled primarily because of its impact on pop culture — it inspired the popular Boomtown Rats song “I Don’t Like Mondays.” Released in October 1979, this song captured the insanity of the moment by working the killer’s chilling utterance into its lyrics.

I (DML) would like to add at this point the connection between cannabis being used as a scapegoat in the “Mondays” killings, and cannabis being used as a scapegoat in “the Wall”.

To keep us under foot, they bury us in soot Eb7 Ab7 Db7 GbPretending it’s a chore, to ship us off to war Eb7 Ab7 Db7 GbIn this dive we rediscover sensation Ebm Gb Cb GbIn this dive we rediscover sensation Ebm Gb Cb Gb

Walking In Space, we find the purpose of peace Eb7 Ab7 Db7 GbThe beauty of life, you can no longer hide Eb7 Ab7 Db7 Gb

(“Potsville to Starlight” lyric from London 1993 production; Starlightreplaces the word “Mainline” in both places, presumably eliminating anyconnection between marijuana and heroin as well as the inference ofmarijuana as a gateway to narcotics use. Starlight is also a strongerpsychedelic image, thus insinuating hallucinogenic experience instead of thenarcotic. The song is, after all, about Claude’s acid trip.)

Description: An Italian politico incurs the wrath of the Sicilian Mafia when he ill-advisedly proposes drug legalization measures. Faced with losing their underground stranglehold, the Mob fires back with a campaign to humiliate him, including a bum murder rap.

Synopsis: A NYC, mayoral candidate has announced his support for drug legalization. But the Mafia, aware that his proposal will cut off its lucrative business smuggling narcotics, decides to frame him. The politician must decide whether to give in to the Mafia’s wishes, or oppose them and endanger his life…